Department of Agriculture
Established almost a hundred years ago, in 1862, the eighth United States Department to be formed. The head of it is the Secretary of Agriculture, one of the government's most important officials and a member of the President's cabinet. Altogether, 78,000 people work for the Department of Agriculture. There are 62,601 full-time workers and 14,101 part-time workers in the United States, 941 people in United States territories and possessions, and 545 in foreign countries to keep us up to date on what other governments are doing for farmers.
Established almost a hundred years ago,
in 1862, the eighth United States Department to be formed. The head of it is the Secretary of Agriculture, one of the government's most important officials and a member of the President's cabinet. Altogether, 78,000 people work for the Department of Agriculture. There are 62,601 full-time workers and 14,101 part-time workers in the United States, 941 people in United States territories and possessions, and 545 in foreign countries to keep us up to date on what other governments are doing for farmers.
The Department of Agriculture is divided into fifteen big sections. One section takes care of preparing "literature," or booklets, to teach farmers all that is known about farming, and to help the farmers' wives. Some of these booklets tell mothers how to care for their babies and children, and give instructions and recipes for cooking, canning, and preserving, and tell how to plan nourishing, well-balanced meals for the family. Other booklets explain the best and most modern methods of bee-keeping, poultry-farming, cattle-raising, and nearly every other kind of farming. There are booklets to explain how leather is made out of animal hides, and how skins of wild animals are made into fur. There is a Department of Agriculture booklet to tell how to do almost everything that is done around a home or on a farm, even how to knit and crochet. Many of these booklets cost only 5 cents or 10 cents apiece.
The Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture. It has scientists who check constantly for plant diseases that might attack our trees. It plants trees to replace those that are cut for timber, so we will not run out of wood. Another division of the Department of Agriculture lends money to farmers, so that they can improve their farms, or form cooperative organizations and make more profit when selling their crops. This is the Farm Credit Administration. The Commodity Credits Corporation pays money to farmers each year to make sure they get enough money for the things they grow. If the market price is too low, the Commodity Credits Corporation pays the difference necessary to make up what seems a fair price. This is called a subsidy. The Agricultural Research Administration, another branch of the main department, makes scientific studies of all farming methods.
